In order to verify labelling compliance and evaluate the existence of fraudulent practices, 250 sausage samples were purchased from local markets in Sichuan Province and analysed for the presence of DNA from chicken, pork, beef, duck and genetically modified soybean using real-time and end-point PCR methods. In total, 74.4% (186) of the samples were properly labelled, while the other 25.6% (64) were mislabelled and potentially adulterated samples.The most common mislabelling was the undeclared addition of, or contamination with, duck meat, which is cheaper than pork or chicken.  

Read the full paper

Smoked salmon is a high value product, and it is misleading to consumers if it is sold chilled but has been previously frozen/thawed. Italian researchers prepared three groups of products each with 36 samples - Group A stored chilled, Group B frozen at −18°C for 30 days, and Group C stored at −3°C for 30 days. Histological slides of all the samples were prepared, and given to two experienced microscopists as blind samples, who were able to accurately distinguish between chilled and previously frozen/thawed smoked salmon.

Read the abstract here

A USDA National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which requires US food manufacturers and importers to label food for retail sale disclosing information about its GMO content, becomes mandatory on 1 January 2022. Although the US food industry has two years to implement the new rule, a deadline of 1 January 2020 is when food manufacturers have to decide whether and how they will need to make GM ingredient disclosures, and what records they will be required to keep. The new rule does not cover foods, which are highly refined e.g. vegetable oils, where the GM DNA is not detectable, and small companies with less than US$ 2.5 million sales are exempt from disclosure.

However, many larger US companies are awaiting the US Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to issue guidelines on how the new rule will be enforced, and what will be required. AMS is committed to provide two different sets of instructions for use by food manufacturers, importers and certain retailers. The first set of instructions, released on 17 December 2019, covers how companies can validate or verify the accuracy of a refining process to render bioengineered material undetectable. AMS is taking comments on the draft instructions until 16 January 2020. AMS will publish a second set of instructions to provide guidance for companies on how to select testing methods to determine whether a food product or ingredient contains detectable levels of GM genetic material. 

There is flexibility as to how GM foods are disclosed.Companies with annual sales of more than US $2.5 million can use digital codes, list BE ingredients in text on their label, put one of two BE symbols on their packaging, or supply consumers with a number they can text to receive information via their cellphone. In addition to these, companies with $2.5 million to $10 million in annual revenues can also disclose via a website or a phone number that consumers can call to hear the disclosure. Industry sources say they expect most companies to disclose GM ingredients via digital codes, such as the SmartLabel system. 

Read the article here

Authorities in Spain and Portugal, coordinated by Europol, have uncovered what they are calling a criminal network involving contaminated clams that were responsible for the food poisoning of at least 27 individuals in Spain. The investigation into the trafficking of contaminated clams resulted in dismantling this criminal network involving poachers, intermediaries and distribution companies, and the location of hideouts where harvested clams were stored in Portugal. The criminal network was active for at least a year earning up to €9 million with more than 1 000 tonnes of illegally caught clams. The illegal clams were harvested in Portugal, and then moved to Spain for the most lucrative seasons – the summer and the end-of-the-year holidays. After a brief clean up, the contaminated clams were sold in markets and restaurants. Washing the clams eleminated the bacteria (E. coli), but did not eliminate the viruses (Norovirus genogroup I and II and Hepatitis A). 

Read the Europol Press release

Romanian researchers have applied FT-Raman spectroscopy and metabolomics to classify a sample set of 126 wines, originating from Romania and France, with respect to cultivar, geographical origin and vintage. Cultivar recognition was successfully achieved for four grape varieties (Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris), and the subtle particularities existing between the Chardonnay wines, coming from the two countries, because of terroir influences were observed. In addition, a 100% separation in both initial and cross-validation procedures for geographical differentiation between the two origin countries, as well as, among the three Romanian areas (Transylvania, Muntenia and Moldova) were obtained. The limitations of this approach, and the importance of choosing meaningful data sets, in terms of representativity for each classification criterion, are addressed in this paper.

Read the full paper here

Two Long Island, New York, companies and their owners have pleaded guilty to mislabelling giant squid from Peru as octopus, which commands a higher retail price than squid. From 2011 to 2014, the defendants imported, processed, marketed, sold, and distributed over 51,000 kg of squid worth US $1.1 million that they had falsely labelled as octopus. The defendants admitted to defrauding over ten grocery stores that in turn sold the seafood product to consumers. The defendants await their sentencing.

 Read the article here

Looking to 2020, among the challenges faced by the food sector, which can affect their reputation and market, are food allergies, food fraud and climate change. Food allergies amongst the population especially in children are on the increase, and allergy related recalls have increased by 20% in 2019, along with some tragic high profile allergic reaction deaths. Hence industry, especially the food service sector, will need to take more precautions in future. Climate change will also potentially impact on industry affecting its raw materials and ingredients supplies and production in particular. Food fraud continues to remain a high profile and challenging issue for industry, especially where there is reliance on imported raw materials and ingredients. 

 Read the article here

Implementation of the new Official Controls Regulation EU 2017/625 on 14 December 2019 is part of a larger initiative - the Smarter Rules for Safer Food (SRSF) package, which covers animal and plant health regulations as well, and is designed  to modernise, simplify and improve existing health and safety standards for the agri-food chain. In particular, an IT system TRACES New Technology will become the new system for notifying imports from outside the EU. This will be one part of a larger new computerised system for official controls (Integrated Management System for Official Controls, IMSOC), which will integrate TRACES with RASFF, the  EU Food Fraud Network and other IT systems.

  Read the article here, and more details on gov.uk website and EU Commission's website

Michele Suman, Head of Food Safety and Authenticity Research at Barilla Spa, in Parma discusses the latest challenges and innovations effecting the industry in an interview with New Food's editor. He will be elaborating the use and validation of non-targeted methods at next year's Food Integrity Conference in March in Twickenham, London, much of which was developed in his work in the EU Project FoodIntegrity. 

 Read the article here

Chinese researchers have developed a rapid, specific and sensitive method in a single duplex polymerase chain reaction (duplex PCR), using  specific primers of based on 16S-RNA genes from camel and bovine mitochondria and D-LOOP genes from horse and goat mitochondria. The duplex PCR was applied to the binary mixtures of raw milk in fixed percentages, as well as processed dairy products (freeze-dried, pasteurised, and ultra-high temperature (UHT) sterilised with the same mixtures and commercial samples). The limit of detection (LOD) of special milk adulterated with bovine milk was 0.1% in raw milk mixture. Pasteurised and UHT sterilised milk raised the LOD to 0.2% and 0.5%, but freeze-dried milk did not raise the LOD. 

 Read the abstract here

Species substitution of seafood is a major global problem. German scientists have developed a rapid, easy to use, DNA microarray for fish species identification based on cytochrome b and 16S rDNA probes. The microarray test takes only 4-5 hours to complete, and identifies ten important commercial fish species. The microarray was validated using 67 authentic fish species, and was able to clearly identify the 10 species even from closely related species of fish.

 Read the abstract here

Tesco's withdrawal of its own-label honey comes after an investigation by Richmond Council  Trading Standards. Honey was sent for analysis by NMR,which gave results that it was adulterated with exogenous sugar syrups. Tesco has temporarily taken the honey off the shelves for further examination, but insists the product is "100% pure, natural and can be directly traced back to the beekeeper".

 Read the BBC article

Using blockchain in the food chain has the potential to improve traceability of the supply chain, enabling users to view the relevant data digitally, remove duplication in reporting and paperwork, and use smart contracts to ensure the process is automated where feasible. Then, all of this drives speed of moving data through the system, so recalls could be managed in minutes rather than weeks, and suppliers can be paid immediately. In this article New Food’s Editor, Bethan Grylls discusses with Julie Pierce, Director of Openness, Data & Digital at the FSA how this technology has been used so far and whether it is trustworthy. 

Read the article here

Roumanian researchers have optimised and validated a real-time, sensitive, and accurate PCR method for the detection and quantification of meat species in selected processed meat products: chicken sausages, beef bologna, and pork bologna. A common detection limit of 8 DNA copies was established for each sample, corresponding to 0.1% w/w for beef and pork and 0.2% w/w for chicken. For the limit of quantification, dilutions of 20 copies of DNA for the bovine and pig species and 50 copies of DNA for the chicken species were performed. Specificity and selectivity tests in six replicates each showed no extraneous meat species, in line with the label information. Repeatability was assessed in six replicates, both quantitatively and qualitatively, by the same analyst, on the same day, and with the same equipment. The reproducibility results obtained by two analysts, on different days, for each sample were very similar. 

 Read the full paper

This paper reviews the latest research using botanical origin, chemical composition and physical properties to characterise and authenticate honey. Melissopanology (pollen identification), sensorial and physicochemical properties combined with statistical analysis or chemometrics are being used to study the characteristics of honey samples and classify them according to different botanical and geographical origins. 

 Read the full paper

This paper reports the performance of a commercial NGS method that has been evaluated as an untargeted tool to identify meat species. The method was tested on pure meat samples, and all species were correctly identified including several exotic species. Closely related meat species were also correctly differentiated. Species were successfully detected and identified in mixtures down to 1% (w/w). The reliability of the method was further confirmed on several proficiency test samples, and promising quantification data were obtained. Finally, 45 minced meat samples sourced from local European and Asian markets were analysed, and 18% of them showed cases of adulteration with undeclared meat species.

 Read the abstract here

Under Council Regulation 2081/92, extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) with protected origin status (PDO, PGI) will have specific olive cultivars used in their production laid down to achieve registration of their protected origin. This review details the use of microsatellite markers (SSRs- simple sequence repeats) to verify the olive varieties used in the production of EVOOs, and hence authenticate their protected origin status. This is achieved by comparing the molecular SSR profiles of the oil with online molecular databases. In Italy for example, the SSR profiles are processed into an "identity card" that can be converted to a barcode or QR code on the labels or bottle caps, which can be read at any point along the supply chain, even by consumers and inspectors via a mobile phone, to verify the status and authenticity of the EVOO.

 Read the full paper

China is now Australia's biggest export market for beef. However, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimates that every second kilogram of beef sold in China under the banner of being Australian is not actually Australian beef.  Worst still, estimates by an Australian company, Beefledger based on industry insiders, suggest that 90% beef sold is not what it claims to be. It either does not originate from the country it claims to come from, or is not the cut of meat it claims to be, or is not beef at all. To address this significant problem Beefledger are about to launch blockchain technology for its supply chain to China, so that information about cattle location, health, transport and processing is uploaded into the Beefledger blockchain interface at every point in the supply chain. This will ensure Chinese consumers can purchase its beef with confidence.

Although there is no evidence of horsemeat being traded to China, a television report by Australian Broadcasting Company, ABC has shown a distressing account of retired race horses being slaughtered for human consumption, and this trade is far higher than the official data claims.

 Read the two articles - ABC News  and the Daily Mail

In an effort to boost consumption of tea and consumer confidence, the Indian Tea Board has been considering using blockchain technology to ensure traceability along the supply chain from tea plantation to auction and retail sale. It is hoped that this will prevent adulteration and reduce lower quality tea being sold, which has had an impact on consumer confidence and consumption. Examples of this are the use of added dyes to hide poor quality and increase the 'glossiness' of tea, and the large scale sale of cheaper Nepalese tea sold as the more expensive Indian Darjeeling tea. Blockchain would permit consumers to access information as to the origin of the tea in terms of region or garden, and know that the integrity of the tea has been preserved.

 Read the article here

One of the largest US Organic Fraud masterminded by a Missouri farmer  Randy Constant, who was given a prison  sentence for 122 months was reported in our 18 August 2019 News blog. Three other Nebraska farmers, who supplied Constant with conventional crops but sold as organic, were given shorter sentences. At the end of October, a fifth farmer from Missouri was given almost a two year sentence for his role in supplying conventional crops to Constant, as well as spraying Constant's crops with pesticides and fertiliser not permitted for organic crops. Randy Constant committed suicide in August, weeks before beginning his 10 year sentence.

 Read the article here